


Outcasts

by heyimal_ex



Category: IT (2017), IT (2017) RPF, IT - Stephen King
Genre: BIG it chapter 2 spoilers, Bev is a great friend, Bullying, Gay Richie, Hurt Richie, Richie Angst, but everyone loves him, injured richie, rich and eddie aren’t together but like each other, richie is forced to come out, richie just gets beat up by henry, use of gay slurs, uses quotes from movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-12 23:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20572781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyimal_ex/pseuds/heyimal_ex
Summary: *BIG IT CHAPTER 2 SPOILERS*Instead of just running away after the scene in the arcade, Richie is followed by Bowers, and ends up black and blue. It’s ok, though, because he has some friends who won’t leave him no matter what.aka : listen i just rly wanted the losers to learn abt richie being gay and be amazingly good abt it bc they’re supportive and great even in the 80s.





	Outcasts

**Author's Note:**

> this could definitely have some typos as i just rushed wrote it today after coming up with the idea. i may go back and edit it slightly to have more richie comfort/correct grammar but i’m also lazy. 
> 
> i hope u enjoy!!!

“richie fuckin tozier.....what, you tryin to bone my little cousin?”

richie felt like he couldn’t move. 

everyone was looking at him. all the faces he knew well - kids he respected, became friends with, played a couple of rounds of games with - they were all staring at him. staring within him. his chest was compressing. 

bowers shot forward, a look of pure malice on his face. “get the fuck out of here, faggot!” he screamed, spit spewing into richie’s face as he yelled. he felt like a dog being punished. he felt dozens of eyes on him, looking at him, seeing him-

he finally found the strength to move, and he took a few stumbling steps back. it wasn’t fast enough. “fucking move!!!”

the words snapped him into action and he picked up his speed. stumbling through the doorway, he prayed he wouldn’t hear footsteps following him. he couldn’t take this. not today. not when bowers would probably spread his secret around town like a wildfire. he would lose his friends, his parents would find out - even the losers club probably wouldn’t accept him. that kid was right. fairies didn’t belong in derry, they didn’t belong anywhere. 

but he wasn’t so lucky today. as his feet pounded on the pavement, he heard more steps behind him, and he knew, without a doubt, that he was utterly fucked. 

bowers voice was loud behind him, thundering and angry. “i don’t take kindly to faggots in my town!” he screamed, and all richie could hear was the pounding of his heart in his head and the stomping of his feet. “i’m gonna fucking kill you!”

richie didn’t doubt it. he knew he would probably go out in a stupid way. spewing his mouth like he always fucking did or doing something stupid until it killed him. richie tozier wasn’t made to live, he knew that, but fuck, he thought he would make it past the age of fourteen. 

when a hand grabbed the back of his shirt, much quicker than he was (probably from constantly chasing kids), he knew he probably wasn’t going to be that lucky. 

his head slammed against the ground as he was thrown down. he had made it all the way to the park, but it was a cold day, so everyone who had even bothered to show up was huddled in a central circle near the stage. in the back of his head, the terrifying chant of the clown, laughing, mocking, began to raise, and all richie could feel was fear. 

he was picked up and then slammed back down again. his vision blurred and somewhere in between the abuse his teeth slammed down on his tongue, splitting it open. he groaned in pain, but he wasn’t even close to done. henry chose to use his feet next, kicking him again and again in the abdomen. richie wondered if anyone would even miss him. they certainly wouldn’t if they knew his secret. 

“please stop.” his voice sounded croaked and weak, and all he got in response was a cruel chuckle. his glasses, although now cracked, were snatched from his face and crushed beneath the boot of the bully. 

fuck, he thought. his dad was going to kill him. if henry didn’t finish him off, his dad sure would. this was the third time this month he’d broken those glasses. he was utterly screwed. 

so far, richie had just been sitting there, taking it with relative silence. everything hurt and he felt like dying, but it was nothing he hadn’t gone through before. 

then, he heard the unsheathing of a knife, and felt the dread of death settle into his bones. 

“i don’t like faggots.” henry growled as he lowered the blade, ripping up richie’s shirt so that his pudgy tummy was nicely displayed. “but i really fucking hate liars. i won’t let you hide this shit - i’ll project it until everyone knows, and you get to live your life like the piece of shit you are.”

he brought the knife down and began to drag. too deep. richie did the only thing his brain could process at the moment - he screamed. loud, desperate, and terrified. 

nobody even looked his way. 

richie could feel the letters among the mind-numbing pain he was experiencing. henry felt like he was digging deep enough to warrant blood loss worries. richie wouldn’t be surprised if his intestines spilled out right on to the walkway. 

f. a. g. g. richie’s eyes blurred with tears as he began to lose consciousness. he felt sticky blood at the back of his head from being thrown on to the pavement. he had no doubt he was covered in black and blue bruises from the kicks. he was done for. dead. 

“get the fuck off of him!” 

just like that, the pressure was gone. the knife left his stomach, but he was still heaving, vision blurry, both from the blood loss and the fact he had lost his glasses long ago. above him, there was a flurry of rustles, and rich swore he saw red. 

bev. beverly. his queen in shining armor. somehow, she had heard him. 

two more voices entered his hearing - both eddie and bill. someone reached down, pressing a few fingers to the side of his head, and he flinched away due to the pain. the hand didn’t leave, however, and he eventually settled into it, letting the palm cradle his injury. 

“fuck!” eddie yelled, leaning over him close enough for his face to become relatively visible. “what the fuck did you do this time??”

“wasn’t-“ richie covered his mouth to cough, knowing how much eddie would hate it if he didn’t. “wasn’t doin shit this time.”

“huh-huh-holy fuck.” bill gasped, hands hovering over the split skin adorning richie’s stomach. “holy fuck. ri-ruh-richie, you look fuh-fuh-fucking horrible!”

“thanks, man.” richie flashed him a smile, his teeth covered in a thin layer of blood. “you really know how to romance a guy.”

“i’ll get my first aid kit.” eddie shuffled around for a few minutes before coming up with a few bandages, wincing as he held them over the wound. “this is gonna hurt, rich.” 

richie shrugged. “can’t hurt more than the scratches your mom left on my ba-“

eddie pressed down on the deep cuts, and richie’s words were interrupted by his gasps of pain and rather involuntary whimpering. bill gripped the others hand, heart breaking as he watched one of his closest friends essentially wither in pain. “ok, you’re ok, y-yuh-you’re gonna be fine, ru-rich, just fine-“

“fuck.” richie rasped out, his vision fading in and out. “i’m so screwed.”

“what do you mean?” at this point, bev had returned, hovering over them. richie wondered what she had done to chase off bowers himself, but he had never doubted the absolute badass that was beverly, and he certainly didn’t plan on starting today. 

“my glasses broke.” tears rose to richie’s eyes. he bit out a curse. “i’m fucked up. my family can’t afford medicine. or to treat this. they can’t-“ he choked on his own words. richie had never really experienced what many call a “mental breakdown”, but fuck if he didn’t feel like his chest was imploding from the inside out. “they can’t know. they can’t know. i’m fucked. i’m so fucked.”

“rich-“ bill started, but richie wasn’t done. 

“i’m so fucked. you guys are gonna hate me. everyone i’ve ever talked to is gonna hate me. he’s gonna tell everyone, i’m fucked, my parents are gonna fucking kill me, i’m gonna die oh holy shit i’m gonna die its not gonna be that fucking clown that kills me it’s gonna b-“

a laugh took over the area around them and richie clamped his bloody hands over his ears, sobs overtaking him. arms wrapped around him as all the losers froze in fear, immediately recognizing the sound. 

“oh, richie!” it cooed, and the boy didn’t need his glasses to know who was talking to him. he could see the outline of the red balloon, the figure holding it floating down. 

“not real.” he rasped out, but the fact that all the others around him were staring at the clown, clearly seeing him as well, wasn’t helping him maintain that reassurance. “it’s not real. it’s not real guys, it can’t be real, it can’t be real-“

“oh, but richie-“ the clown outstretched a hand and bev was the first to move, desperately scooting back with richie wrapped up in her arms. he let out a whimper of pain and buried himself closer to her, desperate to feel even a little safer, even with a gigantic monster looming over him. bill and eddie were close to follow, bill squeezing the arm of the other, who was frozen in fear. 

“shall we play a game of truth or dare?” the clown cooed, reaching out a hand towards the injured boy. eddie, in a feat of strength, snarled and slapped the hand away. the clown moved back a few inches, and, satisfied with his work, eddie immediately darted closer to richie. despite how terrified he was, despite the fear running through him, his brain screamed to protect his injured friend. he would die before he let this fucking clown take his best friend. 

“oh, but you would never pick truth, would you? too scared. too scared of your precious little secret getting out. because each and every person you hold dear-“ the clowns fingers pointed lazily at each of his friends, counting them one by one - “would absolutely despise you for it. little riche tozier, a queer? a fairy? goodness, what would wentworth say? maggie would positively die of heartbreak! but i know, richie. and soon, so will everyone el-“

“shut the fu-fuh-fuck up!” bill screamed, and the monster, despite its horrible appearance and haunting eyes, seemed to freeze in its tracks. “we don’t give a shit if richie is gay! stop fuh-fucking talking!”

“yeah!” bev yelled, her hands desperately gripping at richie. hands cradled his head desperately, a protective hold keeping him upright. between the fear of the clown in front of him and the blood lose from his stomach wounds, he was really beginning to fade in and out. “get the fuck out of here! you’re not real! you’re not real!”

eddie was quiet. too quiet. both bev and bill glanced over at him, looking for his support, only to find him staring with stone cold eyes down at the ground.

“i-“ he choked out, before looking up, making dead eye contact with the monster that had plagued him for years. “none of his friends will abandon him. we’re outcasts for a reason. and we stick together.” 

the monster snarled, but slowly began to shrink back, his power immediately diminishing as he was ridiculed. in only a few moments, a smoke was left where he once was, a balloon tied to a rock sitting on the mossy ground where he was standing. he may be done for now, but he would be back. 

“rich.” bev turned her attention back to the boy tucked safely in her arms. “rich, are you- oh, fuck! why is he unconscious?! should we take him to a hospital, fuck, fuck-“

“b-both of my parents are out for the day.” bill reassured, climbing to his feet on shaky and unsteady legs. “w-we can take him to my place. he’s not going home. not with that o-out and uncovered.” he gestured to the etchings, and bev nodded rapidly. 

in the background, eddie was chillingly silent. 

they got richie situated, the boy (worryingly) light enough for bill to be able to carry. as he looked down, he felt a twinge of regret ; there was still a light bruise underneath richie’s eye where he had punched him just three weeks ago. 

“sorry, man.” was all he could offer in the moment, adjusting so that richie would (hopefully) be more comfortable. he only groaned in response, but bill figured he probably couldn’t help that. 

bev lagged behind slightly, looking at eddie with a frown on her face and worry tugging at her insides. “ed,” she muttered, walking up. “if what the clown and henry said is true - if richie does have interest in boys - you won’t...hate him, right?”

eddie was silent for a few moments before finding his words. “my mom always told me it was a disease.” he muttered. “but richie’s always been my closest friend. and she says everything is a disease. and sometimes i look at him and i-“ he swallowed hard. “wonder if i have the same disease. i don’t know. it’s a lot to process. but i could never hate richie. and i don’t think i think being gay is a bad thing. i think i’m just overwhelmed.”

bev nodded slowly, not wanting to show outwardly how shocked she was at the information. “ok.” she muttered and reached down, gently intertwining their hands. “we gotta...be there for him. i don’t think bowers is gonna be quiet about this. and it’s not exactly an, uh-“

“accepting town.” eddie filled in with a shrug. “i know. richie’s a pain in the ass. like, sometimes i wonder if i genuinely hate him. but i’m never gonna let him go through shit alone.”

bev grinned from ear to ear, reaching over and gently punching the other. “softie.” she teased, and eddie scowled, rubbing the place she definitely didn’t punch hard enough to cause a bruise. 

“yeah, sure. he could get hit by a bus right now and i wouldn’t give a fuck.”

“mmhm. keep telling yourself that.”

“seriously. how luxurious would that be? no more ‘your mom’ jokes, not more shitty accents-“

“you would miss them.”

“like fuck i would miss ‘em! i-“

the background noise continued to drone on. bill, up front, found himself smiling. they would be ok. everything would be ok. they have each other. 

when richie woke up, it was to a splitting headache and a tight chest. his first impulse was to groan, loudly and obnoxiously, because how else are you meant to express pain?

“rich!” the ever-so-calming voice of an insanely pissed off eddie echoed through his ears, and he turned his head to face the one and only.

“mm...are you here to deliver me my get-better kiss? or even better, is your mo-“

“he’s better.” eddie interrupted him, turning to bev and bill, who were just a few feet away, lounging on the carpet with a comic book in between them. 

“rich!” they were both up in moments, going over to their friend, whose eyes widened with how genuinely nervous they seemed.

“do you need more ibruprofin?” was the first question out of bills mouth, and richie couldn’t help but laugh. 

“yes please. drug me up. if you have, like, heroin, i’ll take that too.”

“no heroin for sale.” bev shrugged. “but i do have some cigarettes.”

“i’ll take that then.” 

with a bit of help from his friends, richie sat up into a sitting position, groaning lightly as his wound was agitated. 

“this’ll take its sweet time healing.” he groaned, rubbing at the aching spot. eddie gave him an apologetic look. 

“it’ll suck.” he agreed. “but sadly, you’ll live.”

richie gasped, grabbing at his chest dramatically. “eddie bear! you don’t mean that! not after all that s-“ he stopped abruptly, like the air was snatched out of his lungs. “sorry. i won’t make those jokes anymore.”

bevs eyebrows arched. “what do you mean?”

“well...now that you, uh,” he adjusted his glasses, “know, i’m sure you don’t want me makin jokes like that. probably feels a little violating.”

eddie rolled his eyes, and shifted where he was standing, plopping down right next to richie on the couch. “listen, man. i won’t lie. i didn’t fucking expect that. i mean, richie tozier? the chick magnet?” richie snorted. “but, like...none of us are gonna give a shit. yeah, the towns gonna suck. you’re gonna get a lot of shit. but when haven’t all of us gotten shit? everything’ll be fine. you’ve got us. and none of us are gonna up and leave cause of this.”

richie felt his eyes burn as eddie was talking and quickly bit the sore part of his lip, willing any possible tears to stop. “you, uh- you mean it? like, genuinely?”

“of course!” bev cried, delicately throwing her arm around the other. “rich, you’re a part of the losers club, whether you like it or not. you’re here for life, baby!” 

richie laughed and stubbornly continued to wipe away his tears. “thank you, guys. fuck, i am- i’m a real pussy, huh?” 

“nah.” bill muttered when he walked back in. “yuh-you’re not.”

richie let out a deep sigh through his eyes and let his eyes slip closed. he wasn’t okay, and the next week was probably going to be pretty hellish. but, he had his friends, and his crush, and he knew, deep down, that shit would turn out alright. they just had to get through their time at derry. everything would be fine.


End file.
